Man, I feel Like a Woman!
by Firefly95
Summary: Optimus is changed into a femme by an Allspark fragment and quickly learns how hard being a femme truly is as she captures the attentions of both Sentinel Prime and Rodimus Prime. Gender-Bender! OPXSP OPXRP
1. Chapter 1: Nothing Left to Say

**This hit me when I was browsing DA and I came across a picture of a TFA Femme!Optimus, so now I want to write a story with a femme Optimus Prime and everyone's reactions to her. **

** I really am not sure when this takes place in the series, sometime during season three, and lets say the Elite Guard had rescued Rodimus Prime's team from Team Chaar and then returned to Earth. Oh, and for the story's sake, lets just say Rodimus was good friends with OP back in the academy.**

**Pairings:**** femme!Optimus X Sentinel, Femme!Optimus X Rodimus; my my, what a 'Prime' love triangle! Ha ha *brick'd***

**Warnings:**** complete and utter crack**

**Disclaimer:**** I don't own Transformers Animated or any of its Characters.**

"Blah"** is regular talk**

"_Blah"_ is thought

"**Blah"**** is com. link**

"_Blah"___**is texting**

"_-Blah-"_** is bond-link**

_It all started out innocently enough, it was a mission to go retrieve an Allspark fragment, nothing more, and yet...it turned out to be so much more…_

Optimus led the small team of five Autobots in the direction of an Allspark fragment Teletraan's scanners had picked up.

From what he could tell, it was stuck in an overpass, and it was causing the cars passing over the piece of pavement the smallspark was lodged in to malfunction and the drivers would lose control. Obviously, it was causing a lot of confusion and it needed to be removed as quickly as possible.

Compared to some of the commotions Allspark fragments had caused, this one was fairly tame and should be very easy to take care of, so, why take the whole team? Two very simple words: Elite Guard.

They had come back to Earth a few days ago and had already given the Earth team more than enough grief, so the five had taken this relatively simple mission as a chance to get away.

As they drew nearer to the overpass they had to dodge police drones and out-of-control cars.

A green car grazed Bumblebee's right side and he yelped and exclaimed, "There goes my new paint job!"

"Oh, can it kid," Ratchet growled, "We've got more important things to worry about."

Bumblebee quieted but still whined under his breath about his ruined paint job until they reached the overpass. The Autobots and Optimus made his way over to Captain Fanzone.

He crouched next to the Captain and asked politely, "May we be of assistance Captain Fanzone?"

The Captain gave him a sideways look and said, "Uh, yeah, could you guys get the Allspark fragment thing out, as in, NOW?"

Optimus nodded, "Of course, we just need you to ask everyone to stay back, in order to avoid any unnecessary injuries." He replied

The blonde human nodded and picked up his megaphone, yelling out orders. Optimus was about to start giving out orders to his own team when someone pinged his com. link.

Touching his finger to the side of his helm he answered, **"Optimus Prime here,"**

**"Optimus Prime! What do you think you're doing?"** Sentinel yelled over the com. link

Optimus winced at the volume of Sentinel's voice and moved his finger away from the side of his helm for a moment before answering, **"I was trying to retrieve an Allspark fragment before you interrupted me, Sentinel."**

**"It takes your whole pathetic team to retrieve **_**one**_** Allspark fragment?"** Sentinel sneered

**"Look Sentinel, as much as I would **_**love**_** to stay here and argue with you, I have a job to do."** Optimus said and promptly switched off his com. link

He turned his attention back to his team, "Okay, Bumblebee, Prowl, keep the crowd back, Ratchet, attend to any wounded, Bulkhead, come with me." He commanded and his team went to do their assigned jobs immediately, with the exception of Bulkhead, who waited for Optimus' next order.

Optimus approached the overpass and squinted at a faintly glowing blue spot. He turned to Bulkhead, who was patiently awaiting his orders,

"Okay Bulkhead, I need you to give me a boost so I get up on the overpass and dig out the fragment with my axe."

The green giant nodded, locking his fingers together to make a step for the young Prime. Optimus put his foot in Bulkhead's hands and the green mech lifted him up.

Once Optimus was level with the overpass, it was easy to climb up and locate the source of the blue glow. The crimson mech kneeled beside the fragment and pulled out his axe. He cut a square out of the concrete, with the fragment in the center of it, and lifted it up. Optimus got to his feet and walked over the edge of the over pass and sat down, swung his long legs over the side, and hopped down.

Optimus landed easily and placed the square of concrete on the ground. Raising his foot, he brought it down hard on the square of concrete, shattering the concrete and separating it from the Allspark fragment. He bent down and was about to pick up the fragment when he heard three engines, followed by three transformations, and turned to see Ultra Magnus, Sentinel, and Jazz walking toward him.

"Optimus Prime," Ultra Magnus began, "why didn't you inform us of the Allspark fragment your scanners picked up?"

"With all due repect sir, I didn't want to bother you with something so trivial." Optimus said and turned to pick up the fragment again, but Sentinel's voice stopped him.

"The Allspark is not _trivial_ Optimus," Sentinel snapped, "but a grease-grunt like you wouldn't know that, would you?"

"Hey now SP, it ain't cool to talk to OP like that." Jazz said with a frown and the two started bickering, much to Ultra Magnus' bemusement.

Optimus rolled his optics and turned around and finally picked up the Allspark fragment, only to start screaming in agony when it absorbed into his hand and caused the red mech to begin glowing an intense blue.

The three Elite Guardsmen and Optimus's team stared in horror as the glowing Optimus stumbled back and fell into an alley.

The surreal glow faded and Bumblebee started forward to go check on his commander when Jazz held out his arm to stop the younger mech. When Bumblebee gave the white mech a questioning look, he pointed at Sentinel, who was walking slowly to where Optimus had fallen.

Sentinel was filled with fear and apprehension as he approached the alley, afraid of the state he might find his old friend in.

Sentinel turned the corner and let out a shout of surprise, nearly falling back on his aft in shock. Lying on the ground in front of him was, without a doubt, Optimus, but he…Wasn't a 'he' anymore! Optimus was a femme!

He was still colored the same way as before, but he, no _she_, no longer had the broad shoulders and strong chassis that tapered to a slim waist. Instead, she had narrower shoulders and a beautifully curvy figure. Her helm was the same as it had been when she was a mech, except more feminine looking, and had little pigtails hanging below her audios. She was… Very pretty indeed, even in Sentinel's mind.

After hearing Sentinel's shout, the rest of the Autobots ran to see what had shocked the Elite Guardsman. As soon as they turned into the alley and saw the young leader's transformation, they were too shocked to do anything but stare.

A soft moan of pain from Optimus shook Ratchet from his stupor and the old medibot rushed to the feminized Optimus's side. "We need to get him, err, _her_, back to the base." Ratchet said.

"Take her to my ship; there is a med bay with the latest equipment, as well as another medibot that can assist you." The Autobot Commander said, surprising everyone, while Ratchet just nodded.

"Thank you sir," he replied and turned to the rest of his team, "Bulkhead, carry Prime," The large green bot nodded and carefully lifted his young leader, "Bumblebee, Prowl, you two stay here and help with clean up." The two young bots nodded and left to do as they were told.

Jazz was standing at attention and Sentinel was still staring at the mech-turned-femme when Ultra Magnus gave them their orders, "Jazz," The tall blue and white commander began, "I want you to come with me to accompany Ratchet, Bulkhead, and…Optimus to our ship. Sentinel," The blue snow plow tore his gaze away from Optimus, "I think it would be best if you stayed and helped with clean up." The older mech said, sensing Sentinel's inner turmoil caused by Optimus's new…appearance.

Now that everyone had their orders, Ultra Magnus, Jazz, Ratchet, Bulkhead, and the unconscious Optimus began the long trek back to the Elite Guard ship.

**Worth Continuing? Yes or no, give me some feedback!**


	2. Chapter 2: It's Complicated

**Short chapter is short, haha, posted due to a very enthusiastic review :D**

**Okay, some things I feel like I might need to make clear, for everyone's sake as well as my own.**

**Let me point out that I am VERY busy, between school, school sports, cheerleading, FFA, Theatre, and my social life, I have very little free time, and most of that is spent on homework, so please forgive me for my very rare updates.**

**I haven't abandoned any of my stories and as in the case of 'Love, Maybe', I have to almost completely rewrite a few of them.**

**I greatly appreciate all the wonderful reviews, and love to hear what everyone thinks about the pairings, so far this is how it seems to be going:**

***Femme!OptimusXRodimus is what most of ya'll seem to prefer.**

***Femme!OptimusXSentinel has a surprising amount of supporters.**

***Femme!OptimusXNOBODY is apparently also a choice…**

**Title:**** It's Complicated**

**Rating:**** K for this chapter**

**Characters/pairings:**** for this chapter, mostly OptimusXRodimus**

**Warnings:**** Gender-bending, I suppose it could be viewed in a way as slash?**

**Summary:**** Optimus learns of 'her' transformation.**

**Disclaimer:**** I don't own Transformers Animated, just this idea.**

Back on the Elite Guard ship, Ironhide and Rodimus Prime were watching the monitors when they received a transmission from Ultra Magnus.

After Rodimus pressed a few buttons on the control panel, Ultra Magnus's face appeared on the screen, "Rodimus Prime, let us in and tell Red Alert to be on standby in the med bay, her services may be required." He said

"Yes sir," Rodimus answered and turned to Ironhide, "Contact Red and pass Ultra Magnus's orders on to her, I'm going to let them in." he commanded before leaving to go open the large door for Ultra Magnus and whoever may be with him.

The flame colored Prime keyed in the code that allowed the door to drop down, and stood at attention to the side.

Ultra Magnus came in first, followed by Jazz, who was then followed by an older, red and white mech, and finally a large green mech carrying a femme that looked like…Rodimus's intakes hitched from shock and he asked,

"Is that…Optimus?"

Jazz stopped and turned to look at the young Prime, whose optics were locked on the unconscious femme.

"Yeah, OP tried to pick up a Smallspark and it seemed to think he would look prettier as a femme." Jazz chuckled

"Is he, um, _she_, okay?" Rodimus asked softly, unable to resist running his optics over his old-friend-turned-femme's frame, with all its beautiful curves. His spark fluttered pleasantly when his gaze landed on the pretty femme's face.

Ratchet narrowed his optics when he noticed the way the flame colored Prime looked at Optimus, "I don't know yet," The medic snapped, "if you would stop interrogating us long enough for me to get her," he jerked a thumb at Optimus, "to the med bay to check her over, I might be able to tell you!"

Rodimus Prime flinched and Ratchet walked off, following his superiors to the med bay.

Bulkhead hesitated a moment and said to the Prime, "Uh, he doesn't mean to be so…uh, mean," Bulkhead said quietly to the Prime, shifting Optimus around in his arms, "he's just worried about Boss-bot."

Rodimus smiled slightly, "Yeah, I know…you should probably get going before he blows a gasket."

"Bulkhead! What is your malfunction?" Ratchet barked, causing the green giant to flinch.

"Too late." Bulkhead mumbled and hurried after the medic, being careful not to jostle Optimus too much.

Rodimus stared after them and made a mental note to himself to himself to go visit Optimus when the medics were finished with…her.

Bulkhead gently laid Optimus down on the berth and stepped back, allowing Ratchet to attach several wires to her as well as put the femme on an energon drip, just in case.

The medic then walked back over to stand next to Red Alert, who was reading the results of the tests they had ran on Optimus.

"Well, she's completely a femme," She said, glancing at Ratchet, "it's almost as if she was never a mech in the first place."

Ratchet frowned, "What I want to know is why the fragment made Optimus into a femme in the first place, Allspark fragments hardly ever do things like that." He muttered, rubbing his chin thoughtfully.

"Maybe it had a reason," Bulkhead piped up and the two medibots turned to look at him, "I mean, maybe it made Boss-bot into a femme for a reason."

Ratchet sighed and said, "Maybe so, but whatever reason that is, he's stuck as a she now."

Their conversation was interrupted by a groan and the three turned to look at Optimus as the femme came back online.

"W-what happened?" She asked, rubbing her hand over her helm, then froze, "Wait, what happened to my voice?" she squeaked then looked at the hand that had been previously rubbing her helm, "What happened to my hands?" She then paused and slowly looked down at herself and let out a scream, "WHAT HAPPENED TO ME?"

"Optimus calm down!" Ratchet commanded, but his words fell on deaf audios as Optimus began to panic, clawing at her chassis.

He and Red Alert rushed over to try to placate the femme but she shrieked at them and began kicking violently and throwing punches. One caught Red in the jaw and the medibot groaned and held her face. Ratchet rushed over to check on her while Bulkhead stood frozen in a mixture of shock and fear.

Whipping his helm around, Ratchet glared at the green mech.

"Bulkhead!" Ratchet bellowed, "Go get help!"

The mech nodded fearfully and ran out of the med bay to go find help, moments later coming back with Jazz, Rodimus, and Ironhide.

Red Alert batted away Ratchet's hands, quickly assuring him it was only a dent, and barked at the mechs, "Jazz! Ironhide! Hold down her legs! Rodimus! Help Bulkhead hold down her arms!"

The mechs did as they were told and soon the panicking femme was still enough for Red Alert to inject a weak sedative into her that wouldn't knock her out, but would help calm her down. Within moments, her fighting ceased and all that was left was a panting, weakened femme.

"Are you done?" Ratchet asked the femme, covering up his concern with irritability.

The femme nodded tiredly and Jazz and Ironhide released their holds on her legs and Ratchet let go of her arm. Rodimus held onto her a moment longer, giving her a reassuring squeeze before releasing and standing back.

"So…What exactly happened to me?" Optimus asked, wincing at how high his, no, _her _voice sounded.

"When you picked up that Allspark fragment earlier, it absorbed into you and, somehow, changed you into a femme." Ratchet said, checking the wires that were plugged into her and reattaching any that had come loose in her thrashing.

"Oh," Optimus mumbled, lowering her helm, "is that all?" She finally seemed to notice Rodimus, who was standing on her left side and her optics widened in surprise, "Rodimus!" She exclaimed in surprise, "What are you doing here?"

Rodimus flashed her a smile, "I was called in to help hold down a hysterical femme." He joked, causing Optimus to blush.

"Was I really that bad?" She whispered embarrassedly

He sat in a chair beside the medical berth, "Do you really want to know?" He teased

"Alright," Ratchet said, "You all can go now, I don't think Optimus is going to be throwing anymore fits." He said, giving his leader a pointed look.

Optimus blushed and shook her helm 'no'.

"Good," the old medibot sighed, unable to remain angry with his leader

"Also, if you need anything, you can com. me or Ratchet and we'll be here in an instant." Red Alert said, absently stroking her sore cheek.

Optimus noticed the dent and her optics widened,

"Did I do that?" She asked meekly, looking horrified

"Yes, and just to let you know, you have one mean sucker-punch." Red Alert said, smiling despite herself

Optimus giggled slightly, "I'm sorry."

"It's quite alright," Red Alert said, putting her hand on the other femme's arm reassuringly, "I don't think you were exactly in your right mind."

Optimus smiled abashedly and lowered her helm slightly; looking absolutely adorable and causing everyone in the room, save Red Alert and Ratchet, to grin dumbly down at her.

Ratchet rolled his optics, muttering irately to himself about how it took no more than a pretty femme to distract a group of soldiers from their duties.

"Alright, alright, disaster avoided, now don't crowd her!" The old medibot groused, shooing the mechs out the door, following them himself while Red watched, chuckling quietly

They all grumbled to themselves, but started to leave anyway when Ironhide noticed his leader wasn't following.

The southern-accented mech turned back, "Rodimus sir, ain't you comin'?

Rodimus shook his helm, "No Ironhide, I think I'll stay here and catch up with Optimus." He cast a glance in the femme's direction.

Ironhide caught on to his leader's meaning and smiled before following the rest of the mechs out the door, leaving just Rodimus, Optimus, and Red Alert.

The femme medic's optics met her leader's and she raised an optic ridge, glanced at Optimus, who was obliviously studying her new body, then looked back up at the flame-colored mech; quickly making a connection in her meta.

He wanted alone time with the red and blue femme.

Red Alert knew Ratchet probably wouldn't like the thought of leaving the mech-turned-femme alone with another mech, but she knew Rodimus and Optimus were long-time friends, and he would never try anything like that with her if she didn't want it.

She also needed someone close to her to help her through this change; Red could help Optimus with her being-a-femme related problems, but there was no way the younger bot would trust her enough to confide in her with emotions, doubts, and other personal business.

She doubted the Prime would go to her team with her problems, but maybe she trusted Rodimus enough to talk to him…

She casually turned and walked toward the door, leaving the two younger Autobots alone.

**As always, reviews are appreciated. :)**


	3. Chapter 3: Are you Challenging Me

***sigh* short chapter is VERY short.**

**Title:**** Are you challenging me?**

**Rating:**** K for this chapter**

**Characters/pairings:**** for this chapter, still mostly OptimusXRodimus, but with some SentinelXOptimus on the side. **

**Warnings:**** Gender-bending, I suppose it could be viewed in a way as slash?**

**Summary:**** The competition begins.**

**Disclaimer:**** I don't own Transformers Animated, just this idea.**

Sentinel had just gotten back from helping Optimus's team of rejects clean up the mess the Allspark fragment had caused and was heading to the med bay with the intent of seeing Optimus.

When he reached the door, he lifted a hand to enter the access codes, but giggles and laughter coming from inside stopped him. He narrowed his optics in suspicion and pressed his audio against the door.

"Oh Rodimus, I had forgotten how funny you are!" someone giggled.

"What can I say Optimus? I try my best." Another voice, most likely Rodimus, replied.

Sentinel's hand tightened into a fist at his side and he growled softly, what was Rodimus doing talking to his Optimus and making her laugh like that?

_ "Wait, __his__ Optimus?" _He thought, _"Where did that come from?"_

He shook his helm and keyed in the access code and the door slid open soundlessly, he stepped in and was greeted with a sight that made his spark twist in jealousy.

Optimus lay on her back, propped up by her elbow, facing Rodimus. The flame colored Prime, in turn, sat very close to the medical berth with his right hand covering Optimus's hand that was closest to him.

Sentinel remembered that back during their time at the academy, Optimus had run into Rodimus coming from the library and the two had hit it off instantly. They had become almost as good of friends as he and Optimus used to be. Apparently, they hadn't forgotten their friendship.

"Oh, hey Sentinel," Optimus said, smiling at him, "What brings you here?"

When Sentinel saw the smile she gave him, he wanted to yank Optimus away from Rodimus immediately, although he controlled the urge.

"I-I need to talk to Rodimus Prime immediately." He said as he narrowed his optics at the flame colored Prime.

Rodimus raised an optic ridge at the other mech. He wasn't stupid; he recognized the jealousy in Sentinel's optics and smirked slightly. He was so going to enjoy this.

"I'll come back later and see how you're doing, okay?" He said softly as he turned back to Optimus.

Optimus smiled, oblivious to the tension between her fellow Primes, "Okay, see you."

Rodimus gave her hand a squeeze then got up to follow Sentinel.

When the two mechs left, Optimus lifted the hand Rodimus had been holding and held it to her chassis, smiling like a love-struck sparkling.

When she realized what she was doing, she smacked her forehead and sighed.

_"Great," _she thought, _"I've been a femme for a few hours and already I'm acting like one."_

Although, she had to admit that the tingling feeling that she still felt in the hand Rodimus had been holding felt nice, very nice indeed…

Once they were outside the med bay, Sentinel whirled around and glared hotly at Rodimus, who simply smirked.

"What do you think you were doing with her?" Sentinel snarled.

"It's called having a friendly conversation, Sentinel, you should try it sometime." Rodimus said, unaffected by Sentinel's glare and tone.

"_Friendly conversation_? That's what you call hanging on to Optimus and talking her audio off?" Sentinel exclaimed, gesturing wildly.

"Hanging on to Optimus?" Rodimus repeated, raising an optic ridge, "I was barely touching her hand."

"Well, whatever!" Sentinel grumbled, "She probably doesn't have any interest in you anyway!"

Rodimus narrowed his optics and smirked, "You know Sentinel, if I didn't know better, I would think you were jealous of how well Optimus and I get along."

Sentinel's optics widened comically and he sputtered, "W-well it's a good thing you know better then!" He crossed his arms, "There's no way I would ever be interested in that washed-out reject!"

"Well," Rodimus said, still smirking, "I guess that means I won't have any competition." Ignoring the now gaping Sentinel, he turned and walked confidently back to the med bay, undoubtedly to go see Optimus.

Sentinel quickly closed his mouth and glared after the other Prime, feeling anger boiling through his circuits. How _dare_ Rodimus think he could just take what rightfully belonged to Sentinel? He had, after all, known Optimus longer, and that meant he got first dibbs on her.

He turned on his heel and stomped back to the command center, ignoring the giggling once more coming from the medbay.


	4. Chapter 4: Life as We Know it

**Title:**** Life as we Know It**

**Rating:**** K**

**Characters/pairings:**** No pairings for this chapter.**

**Warnings:**** Gender-bending, I suppose it could be viewed in a way as slash?**

**Summary:**** Optimus returns to her team.**

**Disclaimer:**** I don't own Transformers Animated, just this idea.**

Optimus had finally been released from the medbay and allowed to go back to her own base and team. She was admittedly a little nervous about how her team was going to react to the new her.

What if they all started treating her differently? Or worse, what if they all started fawning over her?

The more Optimus thought, the more anxious she became. Ratchet had tried to reassure her that she wouldn't be treated differently or respected any less just because she was a femme now. His words had done little to soothe the mech-turned-femme's frayed nerves.

"Prime," Ratchet's voice startled her, "Ready to go?"

The tall femme chewed on her lower lip, "As ready as I'll ever be."

The medic placed his hand on her slim shoulder, "Don't get your circuits in a twist over this, everything is gonna turn out all right."

She forced a small smile, meeting the old medic's optics, "I sincerely hope you're right."

Ratchet gave her shoulder another squeeze before he transformed and drove away, Optimus following suit.

The drive only calmed the Prime's nerves slightly; she was still a nervous wreck when they reached the base.

The two Autobots changed back into bipedal mode and, venting deeply, Optimus walked into the warehouse, flanked by Ratchet.

Bumblebee was sitting on the couch, playing their video game. Bumblebee glanced up when the two older Autobots entered.

"Hey boss bot, how you feelin'?" The yellow mech asked, not taking his optics off of the television.

"A lot better, thank you." Optimus replied, going to sit next the small mech.

"That's great," He flashed his leader a smile, "We were all pretty worried about you."

Ratchet walked off in the direction of his medbay, giving the Prime a pointed I-told-you-so look. The femme in turn gave the old mech a dirty look.

"Bumblebee?" Optimus said tentatively.

"Yeah, Prime?" The aforementioned mech replied distractedly.

"My new form doesn't…_bother_ you, does it?" She asked, not looking at the yellow Autobot.

Bumblebee paused his game and turned to his commander, quirking an optic ridge.

"Should it?"

Optimus raised her helm in confusion, "I was hoping it wouldn't, but you know…Since I was a femme and all, I thought maybe…"

Bumblebee chuckled, further confusing the femme, "Look, Optimus, you're definitely hot, but you're like my brother…Sister…Whatever, but what I'm trying to say is that I just wouldn't think about you like _that_, it's too weird."

Optimus vented in relief, "You have no idea how much I was hoping you'd say that."

Bumblebee laughed again, un-pausing his game, "Yeah, no, I'm not going to be comin' on to you any time soon."

Optimus laughed at the scout's comment, feeling much more confident about the rest of her team's reactions now.

Bumblebee had always been the little brother she'd never had growing up, and they'd always shared a close bond. She saw a lot of potential in the young mech and tried her best to bring that potential out. He'd be something great, one day, when he finally matured.

She watched Bee play his game for a little while longer before deciding to go see the rest of her comrades.

The Prime stood and bid her youngest teammate farewell, who mumbled a distracted goodbye in return. She shook her helm in amusement at that. Thankfully, no matter how much things change, some things would always stay the same.

Optimus wandered down the hallway to Prowl's room. She doubted the cool-tempered mech would be very bothered by his leader turning into a femme, but she wanted to make sure.

She poked her helm into the dark mech's room, peering around. Prowl sat with his back to the door, meditating.

"Prowl?" She called out quietly.

The mech turned slightly, "I assume you are here to talk about to me about your new appearance?"

"You would be assuming correctly."

A small smile tugged at the corner of the black mech's mouth, "Come in then, and sit down."

Optimus did just that, crossing the room and sitting next to the other Autobot. A companionable silence fell between them until Prowl broke it.

"It does not bother me." He remarked quietly, turning his helm to look at his leader.

"I didn't think it would, but I wanted to ask you anyway." Optimus replied, her optics meeting his visor, smiling slightly.

Silence fell once more.

"Has Sentinel said or done anything to you Optimus since your accident?" Prowl asked suddenly.

The femme raised an optic ridge, "No, why?"

"I didn't like the way he was looking at you." Prowl's voice was tight.

Optimus's optics widened; she hadn't given any thought to how the big blue mech would be affected by his old friend turning into a femme. She would have to confront him later about it…

The mech continued, "If he makes any unwanted advances toward you, I want you to tell me."

The femme gave Prowl a long look, before replying softly, but sternly.

"I don't need you to protect me."

The mech nodded slightly, then offlined his optics, signaling he'd most likely gone back to meditating. Assuming that meant they were done talking, she got up to leave, but was stopped by a hand on her leg.

"I know you don't _need_ me to protect you Optimus, but you're my friend, and I don't want you to get hurt."

The femme's faceplates softened.

"Thank you, that means a lot to hear you say that," She murmured, "but still, I don't want you to treat me differently because I'm a femme."

A small, but genuine, smile crossed Prowl's faceplates, "I understand."

"_But I'll still kick any mech's aft that tries to take advantage of you."_

The words hung between them. Prowl didn't say them, he didn't have to, because Optimus already knew. It was admittedly touching to know that, despite all their differences and problems in the past, the dark mech would be there for his leader.

Optimus nodded, acknowledging that she understood what he said, and what he _didn't_ say, and left to find Bulkhead.

She searched all over the base for the green mech and finally found him on the roof, painting.

Not wanting to disturb the giant mech just yet, Optimus approached quietly and watched the mech paint over his shoulder. As a mech, Optimus had never seen the point of art, and still didn't really as a femme. She did appreciate its beauty more now, though.

She cleared her throat.

Bulkhead jumped, spilling some paint, dumping a can of brushes, and almost knocking over his painting. Wincing, she moved to his side to pick up the scattered brushes while he cleaned up the paint.

Bulkhead kept his helm down and remained silent the whole time they were cleaning up the mess. Even after they finished, he refused to look up at his leader.

Feeling more than a little awkward, Optimus reached out and placed her hand on the huge Autobot's shoulder, feeling him flinch at the contact. The poor mech radiated nervousness.

"Bulkhead?" She said softly, "Look at me."

The mech raised his helm slowly, but kept his optics down. His cheeks were flushed a bright crimson. It worried Optimus, she'd feared Bulkhead would be the most affected by his leader turning into a femme.

"_Look_ at me." Optimus repeated, a little more sternly.

Bulkhead shyly met his leader's optics.

"I don't want you to be uncomfortable around me just because I'm a femme." She said softly, "I'm still the same 'bot I was before, just in a different body."

Bulkhead nodded, optics flicking down briefly, "I know boss-bot, I've just always been uncomfortable around femmes." He lowered his gaze again, and his cheeks burned red, "Especially really pretty ones."

A smile broke out over Prime's face plates; Bulkhead was really such an endearing mech. Despite his size and power, he was the sweetest, most humble 'bot Optimus had ever met. He'd always had a soft spot for the big green mech.

"Well, do you think you can get used to me?" She asked, tilting her helm to the side, "Because according to Ratchet, I'm stuck this way."

Bulkhead smiled shyly, "It's gonna take a while, but I think so."

She smiled and patted his chestplate, "I'm glad to hear it, and if you need to talk to me about any problems you're having with adjusting, I'm more than willing to listen and work something out."

"Thanks Prime." He replied, his optics reflecting his appreciation.

"No problem." She said and turned to leave, but paused, "Oh, and Bulkhead?"

The mech snapped to attention, "Yes sir? I mean, ma'am, I mean…umm.."

Optimus suppressed the urge to laugh at the flustered mech, "I was just going to say, that's a beautiful sunset you painted."

The mech stood there, dumbstruck, for a klik, then a huge smile broke out over his faceplates.

"It's just something I, uh…Thanks, Optimus." He said, scratching the back of his helm bashfully.

"You're welcome, Bulkhead." She said, amused, then left the mech to his art once more.

Optimus felt as though a huge weight had been lifted off her shoulders. Now that she knew she still had the complete support and respect of her teammates, she felt as though adjusting to her new life as a femme would be a lot easier. Now, however, she had to confront Sentinel about his feelings…

** I think a lot of people expected Optimus's team to fall head over heels for her, but I just don't see that happening. That, and I think Optimus will have enough admirers, and will need some friends to defend her new womanhood.**

** You know what to do, please review. :)**


	5. Chapter 5: Everything Changes

**Title: Everything Changes**

**Rating: K+**

**Characters/pairings: OptimusXSentinel, hinted OptimusXRodimus**

**Warnings: Gender-bending, I suppose it could be viewed in a way as slash?**

**Summary: Optimus confronts Sentinel and has a talk with Ultra Magnus. Sentinel reflects on his feelings.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Transformers Animated, just this idea.**

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"I'm not so oblivious that I can't see that I'm not exactly everyone's favorite mech," Sentinel avoided her optics, "I know that no one would give a slag if something happened to me."

"You're wrong," Optimus protested, "I can think of at least one 'bot who cares for you."

Sentinel snorted, "Who? Jazz? He's only nice to me because he has to be."

"No," Optimus's hand skimmed over his jaw, lifting his helm so their optics met, "I care."

Emotion flitted across Sentinel's face and he jerked away, sensor net tingling from her touch.

"Right." He muttered bitterly, "After all I've said to you, after all the _betrayals_; you're saying you still care about me."

"_I do_." the femme Prime insisted, "We've been friends for vorns; I'll always care about you." she placed her servo over his, "No matter what."

Sentinel's helm snapped up and he stared at the small servo covering his. Slowly, very slowly, he turned his hand over and grasped the more delicate digits with his own and met Optimus's gaze.

Before either Prime could think about what they were doing, helms tilted to either side and lip components met in a soft, closed-mouthed kiss. Their optics offlined and Optimus returned the soft squeeze on her servo. The kiss lasted only a scant few astro-seconds before the reality of what was happening grabbed hold of both Autobot's muddled processors and they jerked back to stare at one another in shocked disbelief.

Optimus jumped to her pedes, stuttering out, "I-I have to go."

She quickly left the other Prime's quarters as fast as her legs would carry her, leaving behind a very confused Sentinel. She stumbled down the hallway, desperate to get _off _this ship and back to the safety of her quarters back at the plant. Sentinel kept pinging her com. link, but she denied him and switched it off.

She'd run pretty far from Sentinel's quarters when her racing spark finally calmed down and she stopped. Optimus pressed her back to the wall to rest and considered what had just happened in the burly blue Prime's room.

She'd kissed him.

Optimus had _kissed_ Sentinel Prime!

She wasn't sure how it had happened, or why she'd done it, but it had somehow made sense at the moment. Maybe it was the desperate need to reassure her old friend that he wasn't alone, that there were still bots that cared for him or maybe it was the result of stellar cycles of loneliness.

She still shouldn't have done it, though. She was still trying to sort through her own problems and feelings and she didn't need to drag anyone else into the mess that was her mind these days. She hadn't even known she was _attracted_ to other mechs!

And _Sentinel. _Oh she could only imagine how Sentinel felt about it.

She groaned and slid down the wall; Sentinel was probably freaked out. He had to be! His oldest friend, who _used_ to be a mech, had _kissed him_! He was probably waiting for Optimus to turn her com. link back on so he could give her an audio full.

Primus, what a mess she'd made.

She'd kissed the mech she'd practically grown up calling a brother and…The strangest thing was…She'd actually _liked _it.

"Everything all right Optimus Prime?"

The femme's helm shot up and her optics met the worried blue ones of her commander. She scrambled to her pedes and dusted nonexistent dirt from her frame, shoving down her initial panic.

"Fine! I'm, uh, I'm fine sir!" She said quickly, forcing a smile and hoping desperately he hadn't seen where she'd come from.

He smiled wryly at her and inclined his helm, "Somehow I don't believe you."

"No, really sir, I'm okay!" Optimus winced internally as her voice took on a shrill tone.

Ultra Magnus just shook his helm at her and gestured toward the hallway leading deeper into the Xantium, "Come take a walk with me, I think we need to talk."

Optimus nodded nervously; Primus, this was it! He somehow _did_ know what she'd done just a few cycles ago and now he was going to tell her how she'd screwed up completely! Slag, slag, slag, now she'd never be taken seriously again!

She dared a glance at her commander's face plates, attempting to gauge his emotions. However, his expression was as stoic and blank as always and gave away nothing. The grooves in the softer metal of his faceplates seemed deeper than usual, and she couldn't help but feel that some of that was her own fault.

Guilt flooded her spark and she turned her gaze to the floor, watching as her pedes carried her after her commander and, thankfully, away from Sentinel. She began to focus on the rhythm their pedes tapped out, drowning out all the chaotic thoughts in her helm.

She was so focused that she hadn't noticed Ultra Magnus stop and almost ran smack into him. She looked up and realized they were on the observation deck, looking out over the darkened city of Detroit, its lights glittering like so many stars.

She chanced another look at the old mech and spoke quietly, "Sir?"

"I've never once doubted that you were destined for greatness, Optimus Prime." He said, optics fixed on the view, "Not even when I was forced to remove you from the academy."

The commander's optics then shifted to the femme, "I knew you wouldn't give up; that you'd take the chance to learn lessons that could never be taught to you in a classroom; get _experience _that you'd never get otherwise_."_

Optimus squinted and looked away, out the window, "You're saying throwing me out of the academy was the best thing you could have done for my career?"

"Hasn't it been?" One side of Magnus's mouth quirked into a smile, "You've grown, maybe not literally, but mentally. You've the patience, wisdom, and leadership skills of a mech almost twice your age… You've become a bot worthy of being the next Magnus."

"Even now that I'm a femme?" Optimus asked lowly, clearing her throat.

Ultra Magnus looked at her in surprise, "You see being a femme as a weakness?" He chuckled, shaking his helm, "You'd be surprised by how much of an advantage that truly is."

Optimus raised an optic ridge, "Not sure I follow, sir."

"Bots, mechs especially, _will _underestimate you, simply because you are a femme; surely you know how fatal of an error that can be." Ultra Magnus pointed out.

Optimus winced internally, thinking of Blackarachnia. "True enough, but… Commander, can I ask you a question?"

"Anything, Optimus Prime." He replied sincerely.

Optimus looked down for a moment to gather her thoughts before she met his optics, "Why are you telling me all of this?"

The old, blue mech smiled gently and placed a hand on her slim shoulder, "To let you know that your change in appearance, truly _changes_ nothing. You are still the bot I saw the spark of a leader in, so many stellar cycles ago. I still believe in you, Optimus Prime; I still believe that you are destined for greatness, all you have to do is believe it yourself."

If optic fluid clouded Optimus's optics at Ultra Magnus's words, the old mech thankfully didn't comment on it.

If he had, Optimus would blame it on the strange and new emotional programming.

"Thank you, sir."

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Sentinel cursed under his breath as Optimus ignored his hail for the thousandth time.

"What kind of slaggin' game is that femme playing anyway?" He ranted to himself, forcing himself to be angry.

He wasn't angry though, hurt and confused maybe, but not angry; he didn't know why Optimus had kissed him and he definitely didn't understand why she'd (he'd?) ran away.

Sentinel had a lot of mixed feelings where Optimus was involved; the mech was once his closest friend, then Elita came along and things between them changed. They changed further when Sentinel started dating Elita; they became more distant to one another. Then there were the painful feelings that had come when Elita had 'died' and Sentinel had blamed the other mech. Things became strained and almost hateful between them. Now, Sentinel didn't know how to feel. He felt attraction to the mech-turned-femme, but he couldn't be sure if it was a surface attraction, or repressed feelings for the Prime. The fact that Optimus had just kissed him really didn't help with his confusion either.

Sentinel walked over to his berth and sat heavily, dropping his helm into his hands. He'd never been in a situation as crazy and confusing as this before and he honestly didn't know what to do; he'd never had problems like this with Elita.

_"And Primus wasn't that still a raw wound"_ He thought as he felt the old, familiar ache in his spark.

Maybe getting involved with Optimus was a bad idea; they both had enough problems on their own. Adding a relationship to the mess would be a terrible idea, truly… But even Sentinel could admit he was fond of making bad choices.


End file.
